About

This month we are focusing on balancing the heart chakra. The heart chakra to some of you may be some abstract concept, so I will explain briefly. In the yogic tradition there are opposing energies that cross from the left and right side of our bodies (the ida and pingala, male and female, left and right sun and moon, yin and yang). The hubs where these energies meet are referred to as chakras. Though there are many chakras, in the United States and in Western practices we refer to seven mainly. I will not go into the details of all of these chakras, because that is not my intention of this post. We focus this month on the heart chakra, the fourth chakra, located at you can guess, your heart. It’s the gateway between the higher chakras and the more body based earthly chakras. The heart chakras focus color is green and the sanskrit is Anahata. The sound or mantra associated is Yam. We go over a lot of this on our instagram.

Using the heart chakra as a model of compassion for the self and others is pretty timely right now. Regardless of your belief system, there are numerous reasons for us to have a closed or overly active heart chakra. If your good and beautiful heart is too open or closed, I don’t blame you. It would be a very normal response to the mass traumatic experience we are experiencing. Some of us have been used to the world feeling unsafe for a long time. This is true, particularly for those of us who are persons of color, women, gender nonconforming, trans, immigrants, gay or lesbian, poor, but these fears have been amplified since November 8, 2016. So how do we cultivate authentic compassion and have a balanced heart chakra during these times? I will discuss both having too open of a heart and too closed of a heart in this post and hopefully offering a way to balance ourselves.

Lack of self-care is a sign of an overactive heart chakra. Self-care is everything when it comes to compassion. Self-care seems well selfish now, but it’s not. I have seen many of my friends post story after story and attend rally after rally, event after event. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were leaving time for themselves. I have myself chosen to spiral into an unhealthy read/post cycle on social media and it left me empty many days. When we don’t leave time for ourselves, how can we grow? Do we really need to be empty shells to be worth something? What are we trying to prove when we keep pushing? We can’t be out “there” trying to change the world when we are void of substance ourselves. This is what self-care does. It gives us substance of depth, wisdom and energy. This makes us powerful agents of change. When I speak of self-care, I’m not talking about fluffy bubble baths and chocolate (well not on its on anyway). I am talking about asking our body, spirit and mind what it needs each day. Audre Lorde said that self-care is an act of political warfare. There is a war on women. There is a war we are fighting, whether we like it or not, so we need to be prepared each and every day.

And when you find yourself cold, unable to leave your bubble to do anything about the horrors around you? You may find that your heart chakra is closed. The ones who are numb and seemingly inactive in the community may be the ones hurting most of all. Those who are deeply affected and have been for a while may be numb for self-preservation. This is why I have such a problem with people urging everyone to go to this or that rally, to be more active. Some of us can’t for psychological, not to mention financial or other practical reasons. The thing is we can all do something…we just need to expand our idea of what is “enough”. This is how we begin to open our hearts, along with some self-care of course. It’s not nothing if you say hi to people if you feel safe to do so. It’s not nothing for you to be ears and eyes for those in more danger than you are. It’s not nothing to exist as a person who has spent time with yourself to inform others that racism exists in all of us….it really does. The sooner you start practicing things like saying hi to people, by informing yourself or by attending a local SURJ meeting your heart will reach some healing. I went to a SURJ meeting with my little family and I will tell you it was incredibly healing to discuss everything. I believe for most of us we have a true desire to alleviate suffering. It is something we can cultivate and it can grow.

Our unfaltering compassion, not pity, but true compassion is our grand weapon. To live with love guiding our entire path, to love for ourselves, our family and community. It’s everything. Here are some exercises that may help and of course don’t try to do them all unless you have time. Maybe even focus on one a week. I am firm believer in daily time to yourself and I am a mother of a one year old…it is possible Even 5 minutes helps:

If your heart is too open, take some time to yourself:

•Check in daily with your heart, chant Om Bhakti Yam 9 times with the intention of self-compassion.

As I said in a recent youtube upload, I will be starting a series on what is often referred to as productivity. I like to call it effectiveness instead of productivity because being effective makes me feel like I don’t always have to produce a product to be successful. Anyway! Here is the first part of how I organize myself and attempt to be supereffective.

The Brain Dump AKA Capturing

I have actually done this since I was a kid, but I did not call it this. I have always been an idea person. I get ideas everywhere and at anytime. The difference now that I have more of a system they do not overwhelm me. At the most basic level a brain dump or capturing is how you get thoughts and ideas out of your head and onto paper or a computer system. The idea is that having these thoughts and ideas down will release some anxiety. I can tell you that for me it really does. These ideas are, for the most, part stored there temporarily until you are able to take action on them or they are archived on a someday list. I was inspired David Allen’s Getting Things Done System.

Like I said, I have ideas all times of day so often I just put these things in my notes in my phone notes. Things I capture are ideas I have, notes from podcasts I am listening to on the go, things I need to do and things I want to read. If a book gets suggested to me I almost immediately put it in my amazon wishlist or on pinterest. I may not read it, but if I am ever in a place that I am looking for a new read or more information on a specific subject it is there for me. I have a brain dump specific notebook where I will transfer these thoughts, ideas and tasks. I have my brain dump notebook separated into areas: Home, Personal, Business, and Social Media.

Once a month I will also do a brain dump in peace and make sure that my partner can hang out with my son for a good thirty minutes. I write everything that comes to mind in each area. From there I pick all the tasks out that are truly just one step. For example, contact someone, make dentist appointment. These task only items are actually very rare. I put all the tasks down on a list. One tip from David Allen is that if it takes less than two minutes…do it.

What you will find when doing this, at least I do is that most things are projects with lots of little tasks. Then I pick three to five projects from each area for the month. Each week I then evaluate if I have finished any projects and cross them out or if I decide it is no longer relevant. This rarely happens because I carefully choose what projects I work on. I only pick new projects to work on once a month. I have yet to finish all projects, but if I do I will just rest or spend more time reading…that will be the day! At the beginning of each month after I do a brain dump I will reevaluate the projects, continue with them, add some if there is room or replace them with projects that are time sensitive.

Start where you are. Brain dump in some form and get it all out then pick one project to finish a month. It will help you feel supereffective and make you want to tackle two the next month. I have found that getting it all out there and knowing that I cannot possibly do more than I choose for the month has really made me feel better. It has helped my unrealistic expectations and my perfectionism. It is really benefiting my anxeity.

Another way I brain dump is to do journaling every single day. I dump my emotions, my spiritual wanderings and what is going well and what I am grateful for. I will probably do a video or blog post on just that. These systems have not only made me supereffective, but also superhealthy. Next month, I will share more specifically how I break up my projects. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

It is estimated that over 600,000 people die from heart disease each year in the United States, making it the number one killer in the country. This disease is caused by plaque build up in the body’s artery walls, making it difficult for blood to flow properly throughout the body.

What many people do not realize is that heart disease is a nutrition related disease, meaning that what you put into your body each day heavily impacts your risk for developing heart disease. The plaque that builds up in the arteries is caused by consuming foods that contain high levels of saturated fat, which causes your cholesterol level to rise.

One way to significantly reduce your risk for heart disease is to avoid foods that are high in saturated fat. Meat and dairy based foods are high in saturated fats, while plant based foods do not contain any saturated fats.

The following are some easy plant based recipes that you can use to substitute some of your favorite meat and dairy based foods.

Bring pot of water to a boil. Wash and peel sweet potatoes, then dice into cubes. Add sweet potatoes to pot of boiling water and cook until tender. In a skillet add 1-2 tbsp of vegetable broth. Add minced garlic and sauté until there is an aroma then add chopped green peppers and sauté until tender. While peppers and sweet potatoes are cooking drain tofu and then crumble into a separate skillet. Allow tofu to heat thoroughly, then add turmeric slowly until desired color. Add cumin and salt and pepper. When peppers and sweet potatoes are finished mix in with the tofu. Add 1-2 cups of spinach and allow it to shrink down. Makes 4 servings.

Heat small skillet with 2 tbsp of vegetable broth. Add minced garlic and allow to slightly saute. If using a fresh butternut squash be sure bake in the oven until tender first. I usually use frozen squash because it cuts down on prep time. Add 2 cups of (thawed or baked) butternut squash to a blender or food processor. Add cashew milk, nutritional yeast (more than recipe calls for if desired), remaining tbsp of vegetable broth, salt and pepper to taste, and blend until it forms a thick liquid. Add the butternut squash sauce to a sauce pan and bring to simmer. Once sauce is heated thoroughly pour over cooked macaroni pasta. Add steamed broccoli or other vegetables if desired. Makes 4 servings.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

1-2 sweet potatoes

1 can of black beans (15oz)

Vegan whole wheat or corn tortillas

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 avocado

1/2 red onion

1 tomato

1 jalapeno

1 lime

Cilantro

Peel and then chop potatoes into cubes. Bring pot of water to boil and add potato cubes. Drain and rinse black beans and add them to a large skillet on low to medium heat. Once potatoes are tender add them to the black beans. Add cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and let simmer.

Once potato and black beans are heated and seasoned to your liking add them to a warm tortilla. Top with fresh salsa and avocado slices. Makes 4 servings.

I hope these recipes were able to show you that substituting meat and dairy in your diet is not difficult and the outcome is delicious and also reduces your risk for disease! Remember to think before you eat, and get daily exercise.

As always, thank you for reading.

Candice

Candice is a certified holistic nutritionist focusing on a plant based lifestyle. After battling years of stomach pain and discomfort she was able to cure herself with a plant based lifestyle and is determined to spread awareness to others. She is also a yoga practitioner, MPH student, urban garden volunteer, and a loving cat momma.

Radiant Life will be featuring spaces where people find solitude, rest and inspiration once a month. I thought I would start with my own space since this month is my birthday and we haven’t asked anyone else yet. If you want to show us your space email us!

Before our son was born I had space all over the house including separate spaces to do work and another to do yoga and yet another for reading. Ridiculous I know! I reclaimed some space a few weeks ago and I am happy to say I like it better than my previous spaces, even if I feel like I am paying rent to Curby.

Curby: The Landlord

Practice:

I start off mornings with a meditation of some kind and prefer to start off with silence. If I am feel really unfocused or have a special emotional need I may put on a guided meditation or do a kinesiology balance exercise given by one of my teachers Jessie Hays. A very important part of my practice has for a while been to clear out my chakras and to check in with my energy. I like chanting through each of the major chakras because sound changes me and I feel like it heals me. I would love to eventually have more bells and bowls to play tones with! I love using mantras and setting intentions and truly believe it has changed me.

I journal everyday and find that is the best way for ideas to come out, for me to get to know myself and to problem solve. I also do a daily draw with tarot or oracle and journal about that too. Sometimes I share it with you on Instagram. If Sage, my baby, hasn’t woken up yet then I do yoga or some other form of bodyweight training. Sometimes I have to wait for his next nap, but I do movement of some kind every day. After all that if time allows, I work on something, write or learn. I do this all before or after my baby has gone to sleep, though I really prefer that awesome time of morning of 4am or 5 am. Sometimes my night owl self returns. Really as long as it is dark out I feel really creative and connected.

Even if you just have a table you call an altar and just enough room for a yoga mat like I do having a sacred space is so important. Here are little pieces of my sacred space…

“Remember that self-care is not apathy, and that sensory overload isn’t social justice.” Mary Elizabeth Williams in a recent Salon article

In the past year I have gone to two extremes, watching, listening to and reading the news every single day to watching nothing, listening to nothing but podcasts and getting my only news from headlines on my facebook feed. This has been a bad year for all of us as a country, I do know that. Personally, I have endured one of the hardest years of my life as a new mom and a preemie mom at that. Do I feel guilty for falling off the wagon of 24/7 ingestion and regurgitation? Nope. However, I would call myself a very empathetic person. I have wanted to save the world since I was like five years old, but never quite knowing how. Riddled with guilt, I would do nothing but regurgitate the news hoping others will care too. Why though? Does me sharing things call people to action or better yet does it call me to action? Usually it just makes me angry and actually depressed if I do just that. Is us biting our nails, typing our latest witty status really useful?

Actually I think social media is a powerful tool. I truly believe it can help us create change and unite us. Not knowing what is going on around me, especially in regards to what is happening in my own country with Black Lives Matters, is in some way enabling it to continue. We need to put these stories on blast for sure. I would argue that knowing about these stories is far more important than Donald Trump’s latest blunder. It is more important than spending our time trolling people like me to vote for Hillary Clinton. I think also of my fellow women sharing their stories of harassment, rape and other violations. I know some may disagree, but I think sharing these stories is empowering. Bring that shit out of the shadows! Women, black folks and others putting up with all this know this isn’t new…of course not, but putting it on blast unites us and shines light on it, so hopefully we can make some change. It can’t stop at the cycle of feeding and regurgitation though.

My challenge to myself this year is to not dive into horrors but to rather dive into my community. My expertise is helping those who identify as women transition out of lives that don’t suit them and for them to embrace their creativity because that is where I have been. My expertise does not lie in how shitty black folks have it. I know a lot about how shitty women have it. No matter what I know it does not make me a good advocate to sit at my computer crying and screaming at the screen. If this news does not call us to action, then isn’t it just a way to exploit people more? Isn’t it honestly a way for us just to pat ourselves on the back?

It feels good to be involved in the zeitgeist of the time, even to the detriment of our own well being, but don’t you think it would make us all feel better if we were doing some damn good for once instead of just patting ourselves on the back for knowing what is going on? The feelings of uselessness and hopelessness will peel from us and we will emerge as beings connected to our community, not so useless, not so hopeless. Sure check in with the news, but check in with your neighborhood. Get super local news. Sure care about who will win for president, but check in with your local politics too. Believe me, this is mostly a writing to myself. I remind myself to pace myself and you to pace yourself. We are not living in an easy time and we could easily and rightfully get depressed. Be aware, but also act. Take care of yourself first, then ask your friends, family and community how you can help, and if you have skills to do something, then do something. The least we can do is share marginalized folks stories, but maybe there is more we can do? Ideas?

I became a feminist at a young age. Though I did know that word early on, my otherness was apparent to me and I wanted to do something about it. I didn’t feel like it was right for the boys to automatically assume leadership roles, for them to automatically get passed the ball, or for them to get to be Sebastian the crab in our 3rd grade musical of The Little Mermaid. I was always a shy kid though and it took me a while to speak my mind. I wrote about it often, though I couldn’t quite stand up verbally. What was I afraid of? Surely we have progressed past this putting women and girls in their place and keeping them quiet while men run wild with power…right? Even if a woman is physically safe to, is she emotionally safe to speak her mind without being called names, like bitch or nag?

If you met my partner, he is not the type to run wild with power, nor is he the type to call me names…unless you count that one time he was super pissed and called me “missy”. He is a really good guy and people frequently comment on how lucky I am. He is a good father, loves me and truly means well. He, however, values his freedom above all else and sometimes at the cost of mine. There are no apologies, no guilt, and no shame in it unless I say something. We had our son seven months ago and this only made things worse me. Even as a forward thinking feminist, even before our son was born, I bore the weight of managing the household while holding a full time job and going to school. When are the animals due for the vet, to get their nails trimmed or flea treatment? When was the last time we dusted the ceiling fans I really can’t reach? When is this or that bill due? It is exhausting really and puts me in the place of the so called nag.

Ah the nag…what women are caricatured as when things don’t get done, because sometimes they are in charge of remembering it all. They have to remind and sometimes plead for assistance because no one will give it to them otherwise. A nag is defined literally as someone who insists and annoys finding faults in another person or persistent urging. Are all women nags? Am I truly just finding faults when I ask for someone to share the workload? A lot of times the nag takes a passive aggressive stance. Wouldn’t it be nice if? I sure wish this or that. If the so called nagging goes further than the nag transforms into a bitch.

Whose fault is it though really? Is it so bad that men are allowed to do as they please, shouldn’t all creatures be free to do as they please? Of course we should! The fault lies in our upbringing and conditioning. It will take a lot to change that. We all know that we can really only change ourselves. We have to start expressing our needs in an effective way and just taking what is ours, despite the criticism we may receive, despite being called a bitch or a nag. Our very livelihood depends on asking for our needs and that includes creative and spiritual needs. It is not selfish for my partner to want to rehearse or for me to go to yoga. It is just not realistic some days, so we must compromise. Change must start with us clearly communicating our needs and feeling empowered to do so. Passive aggression is when we hide our anger, but aggressive aggression is when we let our anger take control. We should let anger push us, but not take us over and we should not fear our anger and hide under it.

I have started asking directly for what I want and stating my needs before I explode in anger or passive aggression. It’s starting to work. I am letting my anger fuel my words and my methods to find balance in our family. I support myself and by doing so I show my partner that I respect myself and will not cave during time scheduled for me. Support from others cannot be expected if you don’t support yourself. Support yourself and step into your power and dismantle the archetype of the nag with me! Raise your words. Do not hide your true words from someone you love. Do not waste your words by yelling at someone you love. I will be posting exercises and videos to support us on youtube, so be looking out for those!

Like the majority of Americans, I grew up in a household where eating meat and dairy was a normal part of our daily meals. We had eggs with bacon or cereal with milk for breakfast. We had deli sandwiches with potato chips for lunch. For dinner it was chicken with mashed potatoes, or something of that sort. We also had no shortage of soda, frozen treats, and other sugary or salty foods to snack on between meals.

I ate this way every day for the first half of my life and for as long as I can remember, I have suffered from intense gastrointestinal (GI) or digestive problems. The symptoms would come on randomly after eating a meal. I would have sharp pains in my digestive tract and feel extremely bloated, or I would be nauseous after eating. Most of the time after eating I would also feel extremely fatigued.

I went to see different doctors throughout my childhood and my mother even had to take me to the emergency room a number of times because my stomach was in so much pain. But even with having tests, scans, and blood work done no doctor was ever able to diagnose me or find anything wrong.

Although I did grow up in a household where meat was served at most meals, I never really enjoyed eating meat. As I grew older I significantly cut meat out of my diet until I eventually was completely vegetarian. I lived on a vegetarian diet for several years and I really thought that I was eating as healthy as I could. But during this time my symptoms of pain and bloating, nausea and fatigue never went away.

A couple of years ago I decided to go see a new doctor because my pain was becoming more and more frequent. This doctor recommended I have a colonoscopy procedure done so they could check for any abnormalities in my colon that could be causing my symptoms. After my procedure my doctor told me that he was very surprised to have found a polyp inside my colon and he removed it and sent it off to be tested. A polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue that grows inside the body that usually does not show any signs or symptoms and can go years without being detected.

After the results came back from the lab my doctor had me come back in for a follow-up appointment. I was told that the tissue removed from my colon was pre-cancerous, which means that it was an early sign of colon cancer in my body. If it would not have been removed it had the potential to turn into colon cancer. My doctor told me I would need to have a colonoscopy every 3-5 years for the rest of my life in order to make sure pre-cancerous tissue does not come back. As for the pain, bloating, and nausea I was suffering? He was unable to diagnose me with anything, but wrote me a prescription for a pill I could take every day that would relax my colon to hopefully prevent pain. That was the end of my appointment.

After this appointment I felt both startled and defeated. Here I was, in my 20’s and already showing early signs of colon cancer. It seemed to me like there was nothing I could do about it. I would have to have screenings every 3-5 years just hoping that I didn’t develop this deadly disease. This was terrifying. I also felt defeated that once again, they were not able to find any reason for my stomach pain, so I would continue to have to live with that as well.

For the next few months I continued my regular life, including my eating habits of a vegetarian diet. At this time I was studying public health in school, specifically about nutrition. I was researching information for a paper I was writing and I happened to come across a book called The China Study. This book caught my eye because it read on the cover “The most comprehensive study on nutrition ever conducted”. This statement seemed very interesting to me and although I didn’t really know what to expect, I purchased the book and read it cover to cover. I was blown away by the information! This book taught me how important the relationship is between the foods you put into your body and the outcome of your health. I continued digging deeper and found even more books with evidence-based nutrition studies that prove how the relationship between consuming meat and dairy promote not only colon and other cancerous growth, but heart disease, diabetes, obesity and tons of other diseases.

At this time, I was still on a vegetarian diet. But like many vegetarians, dairy was a big part of my diet. I also ate eggs for breakfast most days. After reading this research I decided to try a completely plant-based diet and eliminate all animal products from my meals.

Within 1 week I was already feeling positive effects from changing my diet. My energy and mood improved significantly. So much so, that some people even commented on my energy level and I had not even told them I made any dietary changes! Within 3 weeks I did not suffer from any more stomach pain. No more bloating, no more nausea, no more fatigue! A lifetime of living with these symptoms and no doctor was able to find anything wrong with me. I removed dairy and within weeks I am cured of these symptoms!

I am sharing this story with you because I am hoping to spread a positive public health message. We are told our entire lives that we need meat and dairy in our diet, when in fact, it is just not true. At one point in time people thought that smoking cigarettes was harmless, and now we all know that smoking increases your risk for developing lung cancer. The same exact thing holds true for consuming animal products. There are hundreds upon thousands of evidence-based studies that prove animal products promote disease but fruits and vegetables prevent, treat, and have the ability to reverse disease. I don’t think the message could be any clearer! I don’t want you to just take my word for it, do your own research, or even just try to limit meat and dairy and incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet and see how you feel. Like many people, I thought that I was eating a healthy diet and I had no idea the damage I was doing to my body.

If you are thinking about changing to a plant-based lifestyle but have no idea where to start, feel free to reach out to me through our website at radiantlifeproject.org.

As always, thank you for reading and allowing me to share my story with you.

-Candice

Books I have read and think you should read too:

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted And the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, And Long-term Health

How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease

Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It

Candice is a certified holistic nutritionist focusing on a plant based lifestyle. After battling years of pain and discomfort she was able to cure herself with a plant based lifestyle and is determined to spread awareness to others. She is also a yoga practitioner, MPH student, urban garden volunteer, and a loving cat momma.